Eric Zuesse

Here (with my explanations added in brackets “[ ]" where I think it might be helpful), is the January 3rd original report by the brilliant blogger ‘bernhard” at his “Moon of Alabama” blog (including his links to the sources):

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/01/usuk-paid-white-helmets
-help-blocking-water-to-5-million-thirsty-syrians.html

January 03, 2017

U.S./UK Paid "White Helmets” [See this excellent backgrounder on them, employing the juicy but accurate phrase for them, “the notorious mop-up wing of Nusra” — Nusra being, of course, Al Qaeda in Syria] Help Blocking Water To 5 Million Thirsty Syrians

The blockade of water from Wadi Barada to 5 million people in Damascus is taking an interesting turn. The U.S. and UK financed White Helmet organization seems to be directly involved in it. This increases the suspicion that the illegal blockade of water to civilians in Damascus is part of a organized campaign under U.S. command. The campaign is designed to block utilities to government held areas as revenge for the liberation of east Aleppo.

As we described it yesterday:

After the eastern part of the city of Aleppo was liberated by Syrian government forces, the local rebels and inhabitants in the Barada river valley were willing to reconcile with the Syrian government. But the al-Qaeda Takfiris disagreed and took over. The area is since under full al-Qaeda control and thereby outside of the recent ceasefire agreement.
On December 22 the water supply to Damascus was suddenly contaminated with diesel fuel and no longer consumable. A day later Syrian government forces started an operation to regain the area and to reconstitute the water supplies.

Photos and a video on social media (since inaccessible but I saw them when they appeared) showed the water treatment facility rigged with explosives. On Dec 27th the facility was blown up and partly destroyed.

The Syrian government is ready to send repair teams to rehabilitate the water flow to the millions of civilians in Damascus. But access to the site is denied and the Syrian army is now trying to push al-Qaeda and its allies away from it.

Curiously some "civil" groups today offered access under several (not agreeable) conditions:

Hassan Ridha @sayed_ridha - 2:10 AM - 3 Jan 2017
Wadi Barada statement: we will let teams to fix water spring if SAA-Hezb stop attack, siege lift & monitor ceasefire by intl observers
[attachment]
EHSANI2 @EHSANI22 - 6:43 AM - 3 Jan 2017
Offer by opposition to trade access to water source for #Damascus with halting of military operations by army
[attachment]

[“SAA = Syrian Arab Army, the government’s army.] Here is the attachment to both tweets. Note who signed it: [It’s in Arabic.]

Note who signed it:

bigger

Check the logos of the undersigning organizations. You will probably recognize the middle one in the second row. Here it is magnified.

And here is the original of that logo taken directly from the website of the Syrian Civil Defense organization aka The White Helmets: [It says: “Syria Civil Defence. The White Helmets. We act neutrally, impartially and for all Syrians.”]

The organizations who make an offer to lift the water blockade of Damascus obviously think they have the power to do so. They then must also be held responsible for keeping the blockade up. They must also have intimate relations with the al-Qaeda fighters who currently occupy the damaged water facilities.

The U.S. and UK government created and paid White Helmets are "impartially", "neutrally" and "for all Syrians" blocking the water supply to 5 million Syrians in Damascus. U.S. military and CIA officers run the "operations rooms" in Jordan and Turkey that direct the insurgency.

This increases suspicion that the blockade is part of an organized response by the enemies of Syria to the recent liberation of east-Aleppo. As noted yesterday:

This shut down is part of a wider, seemingly coordinated strategy to deprive all government held areas of utility supplies. Two days ago the Islamic State shut down a major water intake for Aleppo from the Euphrates. High voltage electricity masts of lines feeding Damascus have been destroyed and repair teams, unlike before, denied access. Gas supplies to parts of Damascus are also cut.

Even after 14 days of water crisis in Damascus the "western" media are not reporting about the al-Qaeda blockade of water for 5 million Syrians. We can be sure that not a word will be written by them about this illegal hostages taking of millions of civilians in Damascus by their favorite propaganda organization White Helmets.

Posted by b on January 3, 2017 at 01:23 PM | Permalink

——

America’s support for “the mop-up wing of Nusra” should also be viewed in the light of America’s longstanding insistence on excluding Nusra from the jihadists who were to be bombed by the joint U.S.-Russian bombing campaign against ‘terrorist groups’ in Syria: U.S. Secretary of State held out till near the very end against Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s insistence that all jihadist groups be bombed, including Nusra. Previously, in several important reports from the great journalist Seymour Hersh, published only in UK, America’s support for Nusra to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was described.

Incoming President Trump will have to decide whether to continue America’s support for Al Qaeda in Syria and for the jihadist groups that work with them. In doing so, he’ll need to consider the fact that America’s ‘news’media have been hiding from their public America’s support for Al Qaeda, not only in Syria, but elsewhere. So: if he decides to change U.S. policy on this, then those ‘news’media will have a difficult time explaining the policy-change to the American people.

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Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of They're Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010, and of CHRIST’S VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity, and of Feudalism, Fascism, Libertarianism and Economics.
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